2010/04/15 by George Christou, Christou, George, C. Mias +2
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Optical Coatings and Gratings #Optics (physics.optics) #Photonic Crystals and Applications #Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research #physics.optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1004.2690
arxiv created 2010/04/15 · openalex publication_date 2010/04/15 · arxiv updated 2010/04/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Has the ten-year old quest for the optical superlens, based on Veselago's hypothesis of negative refraction, been a chimera? We argue that Pendry's alternative prescription of the silver superlens is nothing more than an application of the natural phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance that occurs in the noble metal films. This phenomenon does not predict the reality of Veselago's negative refractive index materials. We give a simple explanation of how this resonance achieves a field intensity enhancement at the interface of silver and air without involving the concept of negative refraction.